Altered Paths
by Jam-jackson
Summary: Hermione GrangerLupin once said that if Wormtail hadn’t been able to change forms, that would have changed everything. It changed moreand lessthan anyone would have imagines. Dangerverse AU
1. Chapter 1

A woman was sitting at a table, writing furiously. A novel, a story, birthday invitations—who knew what? She paused for a moment to push up her wire frame glasses and push her reddish hair out of her face.

"Hello, Anne," a voice suddenly interrupted the silence, as another woman sat down at the table across from her.

"LB, you startled me!" Anne said, pushing her paper away from her. "What are you doing here?"

"I have a proposition," LB responded. "Can we get everyone else here?"

Alex Slytherin appeared out of thin air, right next to Anne. "Your daughter is napping," he stated wearily, as Maura Gryffindor and Adam Hufflepuff walked into the room. After a moment's wait, LB was surrounded by the Founders of Hogwarts and Anne.

"What is your proposition?" Godric Gryffindor asked.

LB pulled out a piece of paper. "In the main Dangerverse universe Hermione Granger-Lupin once said, 'If Wormtail hadn't been able to change forms, that would have changed everything. Maybe he wouldn't have been so good of friends with them after that, so he wouldn't have joined the Order or been a spy. Then your parents would have used somebody else for Secret-Keeper.' Well, I want to claim that universe and write that story."

"Let us consider this a moment," Helga Hufflepuff said, and LB suddenly found herself in what appeared to be a silent bubble as everyone else spoke. Abruptly she found herself able to hear again.

"We're curious about this story," Rowena Ravenclaw stated, "so we are granting this request. Is there anything you need us to do?"

LB nodded, and Brenna Ravenclaw pulled out a long list. "Those two, and those two. We need to add three. And that one doesn't end in this timeline."

Brenna looked curious, but just nodded and made the needed adjustments.

"Good luck then," Paul Gryffindor said. "You have our attention."

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Gertrude Granger knew that something wasn't right about the day. Everything was dreary, ugly and cold. She stifled a shudder, and glanced back into the backseat of the car, making sure her baby sister was safe. Fear threatened to engulf her, fear that something was wrong with the three people she loved. She could see the one behind her was safe, but the fear pushed her onward, driving faster and faster to get to the house. She arrived just in time to see two people wearing long black clothes look at the car and suddenly disappear into thin air. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice the green symbol hovering in the sky above her house.

She left her sister in the car and rushed into the house, terrified about what she would see. She couldn't say that she was surprised by what she saw, since she had known that something was wrong, but she was shocked. Her parents lay in the living room, looking as though they had been literally scared to death. Emotions raging inside of her, she began to scream, and barely noticed that as she screamed, every glass object in the house shattered, except for the glass around the only photograph of the four of them.

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Sirius Black sat in his flat, unmoving in misery. He looked as though he hadn't eaten or slept in weeks.

_This time last year, I had friends. I had what amounted to a family. I had work – it was dangerous, sure, but what isn't? I had a purpose in life._

_And then, in the space of four days – gone. All of it. Two people I loved dead. Two more tortured into insanity. Another one a traitor and locked up forever. And the last one hidden away where no one will find him. _

_No one including me._

His misery was interrupted by a gruff voice coming from his fireplace. "Black, I have an assignment for you." Sirius looked up to glare at Alastor Moody, angry that he interrupted his deep grief. "It'll do you some good, give you something to do."

Sirius immediately turned his raging emotions towards his boss. "Something to do? You know what I need to do? I need to be with my Godson! Instead he was taken from me, given to someone else who can't possibly love him as much as I do! For 'his own protection' they claim. They say I'd be incapable to take care of him while dealing with my own grief. If I had Harry, half of my own grief would be gone. That's what I should be doing."

Moody just nodded; he'd heard Sirius's rant quite a few times in the past months. Maybe if he'd stop the rant they'd actually consider him fit for parenting. But Moody understood that the hurt was too deep. That's why he decided to send him out. "I'm sending you out with a small squad. The Dark Mark was spotted above a Muggle residence." Months after the Dark Lord's fall there were still so many things to clean up and fix.

Sirius glared at Moody, but accepted the folder with the information he needed. He nodded, and quickly Apparated to the address in Surrey, the world constricting and spinning around him. He stopped jarringly to a surprising sight. A woman with bushy brown hair stood in the doorway of a house, screaming. She had one shaky hand raised and pointed at the six dementors that were approaching her.

Sirius' instincts immediately kicked in, "Patronuses, now!" he yelled, and the squad behind him reacted. He noted absently that there were numerous clouds of silver mist, one corporeal eagle, and one person who couldn't produce any hint of a Patronus.

Sirius darted forward, towards the woman, whose screams were getting quieter as the dementors started to back off. He threw his arms around her, and initiated a side-along apparition to get her away from the scene. As soon as they landed in the Auror office, she broke down in sobs.

"What were they?" she choked out between sobs.

"They were dementors," Sirius answered. "Ma'am, are you a Squib?" Sirius couldn't understand how someone could see the dementors, but never have known what they were.

She looked up at him, her sobs turning into hysterical laughter as the tears continued to stream down her face. "A squid? Of course I'm not a squid!"

Sirius sighed, not even bothering to correct her. "Then how were you able to see the dementors? Have you seen them before? They're creeping around everywhere right now. We haven't been able to catch them yet."

"There were none of those anywhere that I've been, until today. I was driving home, and I just knew that something was wrong, so I drove faster and faster. When I was driving up to the house I saw two people in the yard wearing black just disappear. When I got inside the house I saw my parents' bodies and I started to scream. I heard something behind me, like twenty asthmatics trying to breath. I turned, and I saw them all around me and I was so scared…Neenie!" She shot straight up in her seat, forgetting even to cry.

"Neenie?" Sirius was as perplexed by this word as she had been by 'squib.'

"My baby sister…where are we?" She was looking around for the first time since she'd arrived.

Sirius paused, "Um, the Ministry…" _of Magic_, he added silently, not wanted to add any more to the shock she was dealing with.

"Look, do that thing you did and get me back there to my sister, she needs me," she said, standing up and looking him in the eye.

Sirius heart sank. "Look, lady, there's nothing you can do for your family. It's too late, they've been…killed." Sirius felt his own pain for his losses surge back upwards, but he shoved them down for this woman's sake.

"Not Neenie," she said emphatically. "I left her in the car. Get me back there _now_,Sirius." Her tone was forceful, and Sirius automatically reacted to the authority voiced there before he even had time to think. He grabbed her again, and they disappeared with a pop.

As soon as her feet were firmly on the ground she tore herself away from him and ran to the car, ripping open a back door. Sirius was surprised to see her snatch up a living baby. He had been sure that the shock of the incident had caused her brain to snap under the pressure and she was trying to believe that the baby had survived. But then again, why was that so hard to believe? Harry had survived an attack directly from Voldemort. The Longbottom boy had survived the attack on his parents. Even Peter's kid had survived an attack. Maybe the Death Eaters were losing their appetite for killing small children.

An MLE approached Sirius. "The bodies were taken to the nearest morgue, and we were able to persuade the coroner to believe that they died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Do we need to perform a memory charm on the girl? We already took care of the neighbors who saw the mark."

"No, I'll take care of it," Sirius said. "Go ahead and get back. I need to question her. She saw two people Disapparate, so I'm going to see if I can find anything out." But there was something else nagging him.

"Ma'am, can we step inside please?" he asked, approaching the woman. The child looked a lot like her, and was eyeing her nervously from her perch in her sister's arms. Sirius walked into the house and was numbly followed. "What is your name?"

"Gertrude Granger, but I'm called Danger," she replied automatically. The name seemed to strike at a distant memory, but Sirius pushed it aside. Why would he know a Muggle?

"How did you know _my _name?" he asked instead.

"What?" Danger looked up from her sister towards him, confusion clear on his face.

"At the Ministry, you said 'Get me there now, Sirius.' How'd you know that was my name?" he pressed her.

"Oh, um, I was saying seriously, but got cut off of course." But she wouldn't meet his eyes, and she was blushing a little bit.

"The truth now," Sirius said with a sigh. "Do you know someone who knows me, and you recognized me from the description?"

Danger sighed, setting Neenie down to play as she started to squirm. "Not exactly. I mean—I think you know someone that I knew once, but that's not important. I know you—from my dreams."

"I'm honored, I think, but there's someone else so—" Sirius wasn't expecting the playful slap from her, but somehow it seemed to break the tension between the two of them.

"Not like that, well, not you at least." Danger started to blush. "I'd thought that they were just crazy dreams, until I saw you… can you really turn into a dog?"

Sirius' heart skipped a beat. The only people who knew that were dead, crazy, or in prison. How did this complete stranger know one of his biggest secrets? But something told him that there was no keeping this secret from her, so instead he stood and took a deep breath before transforming for the first time in front of someone who wasn't a Marauder.

"Doggie!" Neenie squealed, having missed the transformation while she was playing. She toddled over to where Sirius was sitting, and grabbed onto his fur to keep from falling. She giggled as Sirius licked her face. Danger pulled her away so that Sirius could transform back to into his human form. Neenie let out a surprised squeal and eyed him curiously.

Danger sighed. "So if that's true, then everything else is too…"

"Everything else?" Sirius pressed onward, curious in spite of himself.

"You playing with Harry… he seemed so happy with you, not like now."

Sirius paled visibly. "Harry?"

Danger nodded. "The little boy I baby-sit. You must know him. As far as I can tell all the dreams are things that have already happened. Well, except one…"

"You baby-sit for Harry?" Sirius ignored the rest of the nonsense that the woman had said. The ministry was keeping him from his godson, but this stranger got to see him?

"Yes, I took Neenie to the park one day, and a fat boy about the same age as Neenie was picking on a scrawny little boy with black hair. Neenie's usually shy, but she knows when something isn't right. She went over there and started screaming at the fat boy. Her screaming gave Harry the courage to stand up to him. Then the fat kid ran off to his mother and complained, and Harry was about to be punished when I intervened, offering to help take care of Harry if he and her son didn't get along very well. Harry and Neenie were fast friends. It's really rather cute."

Sirius was having trouble following this, who had a fat kid who'd be taking care of Harry? Come to think of it, who besides him would be taking care of Harry? "Who does Harry live with?"

"His Aunt," Danger said sourly. "And I try to get him out of there as often as I can, poor thing."

Something slid into place. James had had no siblings, and his parents had died during the war. But Lily had had a sister. Sirius searched his mind for the time he'd met Lily's family. She'd had wonderful, accepting parents, but her sister had been an envious, unattractive woman who had labeled Lily and her friends "freaks" just because she was not able to do what they could do. Harry was living with someone who thought that wizards and witches were freaks. The implications of this started to sink in. "What do they do with him?" he asked, scared to hear the answer.

Danger rose from her seat, "Come with me." He was confused as she led him to a hallway and opened up a cupboard under the stairs. "All these houses in the area are about the same. In the Dursleys' house, their cupboard under the stairs isn't used as a cupboard; it's where Harry is kept. Harry doesn't cry much. I think he was hit some when he made noise, so he learned to stop. But because he doesn't cry much, they forget about him, and forget to feed him."

Sirius felt like he couldn't breathe as he stared at the hole that Harry was locked up in. He barely heard the question that Danger asked. "Harry's parents didn't really die in a car crash, did they?"

"No," Sirius replied absently, trying to return his focus to Danger. "They were murdered. Betrayed by a friend and killed by a lunatic."

"And his mother threw herself in front of him, to save him," Danger murmured as if to herself. "A flash of green light and a rushing sound like death on invisible wings..."

"How…" Sirius trailed off.

"It was in my dream too. I saw it."

Sirius settled back down. "I think I need to hear more about these dreams of yours."

The dreams are always similar, if not exactly the same," Danger said without preamble, starting back to the living room. "Cacophony, madness. Blurs of color and sound. But I can get bits and pieces here and there. Lots of orange, but always associated with the word red. That confuses me a lot. When is orange red?"

Sirius made a mental note of that. _When is orange red?_

"Along with the orange, or the red, or whatever, flashes of black and flashes of brown and flashes of yellow. And then it's as if someone shouts a couplet in my ear.

"_Black to red and red to brown_

_Shall truly bring the darkness down."_

"But I don't know what it means," she finished in frustration, lightly pounding the arm of the couch as she sat down. "Then I start getting actual pictures. Four boys. One of them is you. Then one with dark hair – he looks like Harry – and one kind of mousy-looking one, and another with brown hair."

"My best friends at school," Sirius said. "We called ourselves the Marauders. The boy who looks like Harry is his father, James, the mousy boy is Peter Pettigrew, and the other one is Remus Lupin."

"Thank you," Danger said in relief. "Having names makes everything easier. I see James, then, with a red-haired girl, flashes of dates, a wedding, a baby – Harry – and you and Lupin and Pettigrew around them, along with girlfriends I think. You're with a black girl who looks familiar…"

"Letha," Sirius murmured, wondering absently where she was, how she was dealing with her grief.

Danger barely acknowledged that he'd spoken. "And Peter's with a girl with brown hair."

"Evanie," Sirius continued to supply the names, unsure of whether she was actually listening to him or not.

"And Lupin's with a blonde."

"Melanie," Sirius finished. "The good old days, before everything blew up."

"And then it all goes awful." Danger shuddered. "One of you goes over to the Dark. To some horrid scary guy who looks like a snake gone wrong."

"Remus," Sirius said bitterly.

"No. Melanie."

"What?" Sirius jerked his head up to stare at her.

"That's what I see," Danger said. "It's definitely Melanie talking with the nasty one. Melanie telling him where to find them. Melanie turning into a mouse. Can she do that?"

Sirius almost didn't want to believe her, but her last comment clinched it. _No one _besides himself had known about that. Melanie had seen Sirius transform once when he wasn't being as cautious as he should, and had blackmailed him into helping her learn the process.

_And if she's telling the truth about that, what about the rest?_

"Yes. She can."

"She did it the day everyone thinks she died," Danger said, her eyes almost closed. "I always see it in slow motion. She shouts something at Lupin, she pulls out this little stick from behind her back," she shuddered, "Cuts off her own finger with it – I don't know how, or why –"

"A finger was the most they ever found of her," Sirius said in a deadly quiet voice. Too much was making sense all of a sudden.

"And then the street behind her just explodes, and she shrinks down to mouse size and shape and runs away while the smoke is clearing. And Lupin looks at the place where she was, and he starts laughing. A quiet little laugh, but that made it all the more scary for the people watching I think. And then I drift into a kind of foggy place, and I hear a poem, repeated over and over again until I wake up with it drumming in my head."

She clutched her hair melodramatically, then smiled apologetically. "I always thought that was just an expression, until I started dreaming like this. I finally wrote it down, and then it left me alone. I think you should see it."

"I think I should too," Sirius said grimly. Several loose parts of his world were starting to fall into place. Specifically, the "Remus would never betray Lily and James" part.

"Here it is," Danger said, handing him a sheet of paper, half-covered with lines of neat handwriting. "I did a clean copy once I was sure I had it right. If you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to cry now." And she sat down on the couch, head in her arms, and began to sob. Sirius belatedly remembered the events of less than an hour ago, although so much seemed different now.

Neenie tottered over to her sister. "Don't cy, Dayger," she said, patting her sister on the head.

Sirius moved away from them, trying to give them some time alone to mourn, and decipher the poem in front of him.

_Black to red and red to brown _

_Shall surely bring the darkness down. _

_The lion brought down by a mouse _

_Will be found in the rodent house. _

_The dark one's freedom was costly bought _

_With framed lover in jail to rot. _

_The brightest star will see him through _

_After the truth returns to you. _

_The wolf that runs in brightest dark _

_Of fear in danger strikes no spark, _

_For she is maid of warrior soul _

_And by her touch his mind is whole. _

_Take lion's son and sister too, _

_For they truly belong to you. _

_When they who saved the savior twine _

_The freshest blood with founder's line, _

_Then has the age of hope begun, _

_And peace comes to the man who won._

Danger's sobs died down, and she picked up Neenie as she walked over towards Sirius. Her mourning was not done; it was just pushed aside right now. Something about the poem screamed urgency at her, more so than mourning parents that she knew were in a better place. Later she would mourn, for Neenie never growing to know her parents, for the years of love that were torn from her. But now, there was something else to do.

"That couplet from before, that's repeated in here," Sirius said, looking up at her.

Danger nodded. "I know. It must be important somehow."

"But we don't understand it at the moment, so let's look at the first quatrain, after the couplet."

"Sounds good."

The somewhat unlikely pair bent over their work.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for the encouragement from everyone! I think I answer maybe one question in this chapter, but chapter three answers quite a few more. Also, I obviously don't own Harry Potter. If I did, would I be writing AU-AU-fanfiction? Right, that's what I thought. On with the chapter!

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"Flat number 124," Danger muttered, looking from the piece of paper with the address to the excruciatingly normal looking London apartment building. She and Sirius had gotten close to nowhere interpreting her poem—they'd come up with answers, but the answers seemed impossible. Sirius had finally given her his address, telling her to come visit once she'd had some time to mourn. A week later, and here she was. Every night she dreamt the poem again, and there was an increased feeling of urgency, if a poem could be urgent.

Emerging from the lift Danger spotted Sirius' flat to her left at the end of the corridor and started towards it. But as she got closer she heard raised voices. One was obviously Sirius; the other was a strangely familiar feminine voice.

"You need to get your act together, Sirius Valentine Black!" the female voice was yelling.

"I am!" Sirius practically roared back. "I'm working again, in case you haven't noticed!"

"Well congratulations, you've learned how to get yourself out of bed in the morning, go and mope around work, then come back here and drown your sorrows in firewhiskey." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.

Sirius' next statement was much quieter. "I haven't touched firewhiskey in two weeks."

But the woman was apparently too angry to notice the change in tone. "What do you want, a medal?"

"No, I want James and Lily and Peter and Evanie back!"

He probably could have gotten the same shocked and hurt silence by slapping her. "Well, you can't have that," she said coolly after a moment. "Because _your _best friend betrayed them."

"Remus was your friend too, and James and Lily's," Sirius said wearily.

"He was...or we thought he was. Why couldn't I have been the Secret-Keeper?" she said quietly.

Sirius snorted. "I know why I couldn't. James and Lily thought that I was the spy. Do you know how much that hurts? Knowing that if I'd just done something, anything to prove I was trustworthy, that maybe they'd have believed in me, and they'd be alive."

"Are you sure about that? Would it really have changed who died?" she pressed.

"No," Sirius responded flatly. "Because they might have done to you what they did to Evanie. So I feel even more guilty, because a little part of me is glad that I wasn't the Secret-Keeper, because it kept you just a little bit safer."

"Sirius, you shouldn't feel guilty because the two of us are alive." A moment of silence. "Why have you been avoiding me? Why did I have to practically break into your flat to see you for the first time in months?"

Sirius was silent for a much longer moment. "Because it hurts too much," he said finally. Whenever you're around I remember all the times we all had together. And not just us, everyone. Our first date, where James was the waiter, Peter and Evanie cooked, and Remus played the violin for us while we ate in the candlelight. Harry's first birthday, when you thought it was so hilarious when Harry was trying to feed everyone his birthday cake, with his hands. James and Lily's wedding, you looked so beautiful next to Lily, and couldn't believe you'd be interested in me."

The woman tried to interrupt, but Sirius wasn't finished. "But as it turned out, everyone but me knew it was true, and everyone worked together to get us together. Being around you brings up hundreds of memories of our friends. And when you're not around, I miss you. I think of the memories that are just the two of us. The way we could practically read each other's minds while playing Quidditch. Our first kiss. The night I took you out to the Quidditch pitch and introduced you to my relatives, because the constellations are warmer than they are in person. I don't want to be without you, but being near you just hurts so much…" Sirius trailed off, and an awkward silence seemed to fill the room.

Danger stood outside the door a moment, trying to decide what to do. She was glad that she'd brought a stroller in spite of her belief that toddlers should walk, as she hung around the door eavesdropping. When the conversation didn't continue, Danger knocked on the door.

"Just a moment," Sirius said gruffly, and she heard footsteps. The door opened and an obviously depressed Sirius stood on the other side. Before she even said anything, Danger put her arms around him in a comforting hug.

"Who's she?" the female voice asked, with a hint of jealousy. Danger peeked over Sirius' shoulder at the dark-skinned woman standing in the doorway between two of the rooms in the flat—the _familiar_ dark-skinned woman.

"Aletha?" Danger asked incredulously, pushing away from a confused-looking Sirius.

"Danger?" A magnet seemed to pull the women together. In the space of a moment, they were hugging and squealing girlishly.

"Danger?" a small confused voice said from the corridor.

"Oh, Neenie, you're up!" Danger rushed back into the corridor and picked up the toddler girl.

"Yours?" Aletha asked Danger, looking between the two similar-looking girls.

"No, she's my baby sister. Although, I guess she is mine now…" Danger's voice trailed off, and she slipped back into her melancholy mood momentarily.

"Why?" Aletha asked. "What's happened?"

"Her parents were killed by deatheaters," Sirius explained as Danger pulled herself together.

"No," Aletha whispered, shaking her head. "That's awful. They were always so kind, so good...why them?"

Sirius shook his head. "I could ask the same thing about the two of you. How do you know each other?"

"We were best friends when we were younger," Aletha explained. "But I left for Hogwarts, and while I was away at school Danger and her family moved, and I lost touch with her."

"What's Hogwarts?" Danger interrupted.

"It's a school, for special people like me," Sirius said, carefully.

"For m-magicians?" Danger asked, "Magic is real, right?"

"It's real," Sirius reassured her. "But I'm not a magician, I'm a wizard."

"And you're a wizardess?" Danger asked Aletha.

"Witch," Aletha corrected, smiling, "but yes, I can do magic too."

Neenie started to squirm, so Danger set her down, and turned towards the still open door to get the stroller. "Well hey there green-eyes! You were so quiet I didn't know you were awake!" She scooped him out of the double stroller and turned to face Sirius and Letha.

"Pa-foot! Letha!" Harry squealed. Danger set him down and let him toddle towards his stunned Godfather. Harry reached him, and put his arms up in a 'hold-me' gesture. Sirius snatched him up into a hug with a sob.

"Pa-foot, no c'y," Harry said, touching Sirius' face.

"I have to cry, Harry," Sirius said, smiling at his godson. "But I'm not sad. I'm happy."

Harry looked confused. "No c'y," he repeated, looking as if _he _might cry in a moment.

Sirius pulled himself together, took a deep if shaky breath, and wiped his face. "All right, Harry. No cry. Better?"

"Pa-foot, where Mooey?"

It was a natural question for the boy to ask – Remus and Sirius had seldom visited the Potters separately – but it caught Sirius by surprise. Aletha pulled a chair over to him quickly, and he sat down and got himself under control before he answered. "Moony's away on a trip, Harry. But I think he'll come home soon. And then he can play with you."

"Yay, p'ay wif Mooey!" Harry said, wiggling. "Where Mama and Dada?"

_He would have to ask the hard one._ Sirius looked over at Danger and Letha and mutely appealed for help.

"Oh, Harry," Danger said, coming into the apartment and pulling up a chair for herself. Neenie climbed onto her sister's lap and stuck her thumb in her mouth. "Your Mama and Dada had to go away."

"Go 'way like Mooey?"

"Well, yes and no. They did go away, but Moony is coming back. Your Mama and Dada aren't going to come back. They're watching over you from far away, and they love you very much, but they have to stay where they are."

Harry considered this. "Pa-foot," he finally declared with true toddler logic, bumping his head against Sirius' chest. "Dayger." He pointed to Danger. "Neenie." He indicated the girl. "Letha." He pointed at her too. "An' Mooey come back soon."

"That's right," Danger said. "You've got it now."

Harry wiggled his way off Sirius' lap to go play, with Neenie quickly following.

"There's nothing bad that they can get into?" Danger asked apprehensively.

"Of course there isn't…" Sirius trailed off, because at that moment Neenie had grabbed a long thin stick, and waved it, sending a shower of sparks that threatened to set Aletha's robes on fire.

"Well, look at that," Aletha said with a grin, stamping on her hem and deftly removing the stick from Neenie's grasp. "It looks like your little sister's going to be a pretty powerful witch some day."

"You can't be serious," Danger said, looking at Aletha incredulously.

"You're right, I can't be. He's Sirius," Aletha said, grinning.

Danger rolled her eyes. "But Neenie can't be a witch."

"She can," Aletha said. "Here, this wand will only spark for witches or wizards; a muggle would get no results. Try it."

Danger rolled her eyes and waved the wand carelessly. Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as a shower of sparks threatened to set fire to Sirius this time.

"That's what I though," Sirius said, satisfied.

"What do you mean, that's what you thought?" Danger asked, rounding on him, "Are you guys trying to say that I'm a _witch_?"

"Yes," Sirius said simply, "I did some research after I saw you. Only witches or wizards can see dementors. Not even squibs can see them. And, you might not have noticed it, but after your parents' death, nearly every piece of glass in the house was shattered. It was the sort of thing magical children do accidentally while throwing a tantrum. You might have done it when you found out your parents were dead."

"But then why wasn't I sent to your school; why haven't I ever noticed this before?" Danger asked, looking between the two.

"Maybe you didn't display magic," Sirius offered, "so it was never picked up, but this tragedy sparked your magical ability, making it stronger. I've heard stories of people who thought they were squibs until some traumatic incident caused their magic to manifest itself."

Aletha shook her head. "As amazing as it is to hear Sirius Black talking about theoretical magic, I have a million questions. Danger, why do you have Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived; why are you here; and what is this about Remus Lupin, the deranged murderer, coming home soon?"

For some reason that Sirius and Aletha could not yet fathom, Danger bristled up. "I baby-sit for Harry, and I thought that Sirius might want to see him, so I brought him along. I'm here so that Sirius and I can discuss poetry and justice. And Remus Lupin is not a deranged murderer—he's innocent."

Aletha stared at her. "It's sad that Sirius discussing poetry and justice is the most plausible thing on that list."

"I'd be offended, if it weren't true," Sirius commented dryly.

"Obviously I baby-sit for Harry," Danger said, hands on her hips. "Otherwise, why would he be here?"

Aletha shrugged. "All right, that's plausible too. Get to the last bit."

In as few words as possible, Danger explained her dreams and what she'd worked out about them.

"You're telling me that Melanie betrayed Lily and James?" Aletha asked, stunned.

"Yes," Danger said simply. "And that means that an innocent man is in prison."

"Let me hear this poem of yours," Aletha demanded.

Danger closed her eyes to recite.

"_Black to red and red to brown _

_Shall surely bring the darkness down. _

_The lion brought down by a mouse _

_Who will be found in the rodent house. _

_The dark one's freedom was costly bought _

_With framed lover in jail to rot. _

_The brightest star will see him through _

_After the truth returns to you. _

_The wolf that runs in brightest dark _

_Of fear in danger strikes no spark, _

_For she is maid of warrior soul _

_And by her touch his mind is whole. _

_Take lion's son and sister too, _

_For they truly belong to you. _

_When they who saved the savior twine _

_The freshest blood with founder's line, _

_Then has the age of hope begun, _

_And peace comes to the man who won."_

Sirius handed Aletha his copy of the poem. "Does it make any sense to you?"

"Maybe," Aletha said absently, "My name means truth, and Sirius the Dog Star is the brightest star in the sky, so maybe these two lines are about us?"

Danger nodded. "Before Sirius left the other day we decided that the mouse is Melanie, and her framed lover is Remus."

"And I think the lion means James, because he was the uber-Gryffindor, I suppose," Sirius interjected.

"The brightest star will see him through, after the truth returns to you," Aletha muttered, "If we're reading this right, with this being us, then I've returned now, haven't I? I mean, this is the first time I've seen you in six months, Sirius." She turned to Danger. "And the first time I've seen you in what, ten years?"

Sirius nodded. "Sounds right to me."

"So Sirius has to do something to help Remus," said Danger. "But what?"

Sirius shrugged, "Let's try to figure out the rest of the poem first. Let's look at the next two lines."

"Well," Aletha speculated, "if truth was me, maybe wolf is Remus, because of the legend and everything."

"And because he's a werewolf," Danger muttered distractedly. "And Danger would obviously be me."

But Aletha wasn't paying attention to the second half of Danger's statement. "Wait—hold on—Remus is _what_?"

"How do you know that?" Sirius exclaimed at the same time. "Only _I _should know that. Well, and the Hogwarts professors, and Snivellus." He sneered at the name.

"Severus Snape knows that Remus is a werewolf, and I was never told?"

"Severus Snape knowing that Remus is a werewolf is a long story," Sirius said with a sigh. "What I want to know is how _Danger_ knows it, when she's never even met the man."

"My dream," Danger said softly.

"The dream with the poem?" Aletha looked down at it. "Nothing here really says that Remus is a werewolf…"

"My other dream, the one with the wedding," Danger said, blushing slightly.

"Whose wedding?" Sirius asked, his eyes flickering towards Aletha questioningly.

"Mine," Danger said, blushing more. "And Remus'. And when we kissed, I knew everything about him. Everything!"

Sirius looked at her calmly. "I'd question that, but just the fact that you know he's a werewolf shows it has to be true."

"I ask again, _why_ wasn't I told?" Aletha interjected.

"Because no one was told. James and Peter and I figured it out on our own. Snape… Snape nearly died because I was stupid enough to tell him Remus' location on a full moon night. I just wanted to scare him, I didn't think it through, I seriously regret it and will for the rest of my life, but that's not important right now, let's just try to figure out this bloody poem!" Sirius leaned back in exasperation, clearly avoiding eye contact with the two women.

"So, Remus shouldn't scare you," Aletha said awkwardly, looking at the poem again.

"If I'm meant to marry him, I would hope not." Danger tried to speak lightly, but the worry in her voice was audible.

"I don't know if it'll be that easy, Danger," Sirius said nervously. "You saw how his last relationship ended..."

Aletha shook her head irritably. "I'm not sure what the rest of this means, but lets concentrate on two things. What is this rodent house, and how is Sirius supposed to see Remus through? What does that mean?"

"Obviously, we have to get him out of prison," Sirius answered.

"Without Melanie to prove Remus didn't do it, how're we supposed to do that? I think we should find this 'rodent house' first."

"We can't wait to figure out where the mouse is—he'll go mad in there! We should tell someone what we know."

"And they'll think we're mad, and throw us in St. Mungo's, or think we're conspiring to break a criminal out of jail, and we'll be thrown in jail too!"

"We're supposed to break him out!" Danger declared suddenly. Sirius and Aletha both turned to stare at her incredulously, then locked eyes in a clear 'who wants to handle_ this_ one' bout. Sirius lost.

"You can't break out of Azkaban, Danger. Those things that you saw in front of your house, the dementors? They guard the prison. A single person who went there would be overwhelmed by the dementors immediately, and any more than a single person would be noticed, and would probably still be overwhelmed by the dementors."

"A single person…" Danger muttered, before looking up hopefully, "Sirius, do animals have the same sort of emotions as humans?"

"They're different from human emotions – less advanced," Sirius replied.

"So maybe the dementors wouldn't sense an animal," Danger said. "Or not as easily."

Aletha nodded. "So an animal could get in, but I don't see..."

"A full moon," Sirius said, snapping his fingers. "I'll go. During a full moon, in Animagus form. They won't sense me, because I'm an animal, but I'll have my human mind, so I'll be able to avoid them. And Moony will be the werewolf. He should be weak enough from the prison that I can control him alone."

"You're an Animagus?" Aletha said flatly, putting her head in her hands. "Sirius Black, I'm starting to think that I don't really know you."

Sirius ignored the statement, "I like the plan, but what do we do once he's out?"

"We'll have to hide," Danger said. "So we're going to have to take care of things before we can get him out. We probably won't have time for this next full moon. We need to know what kind of locks they have on the doors there. Is it a simple catch, something you could undo with your paws, Sirius, or are they key locks? Those would be hard to open without hands."

" I can find that out," Aletha said, looking. "I'll do some research tomorrow." She smiled. "I can't believe we're actually planning on doing this..."

The excitement in the room was almost tangible. Sirius could scent it, even with his limited human sense of smell. "What about Harry?" he said. "We can't leave him with the Muggles."

"Harry's easy," Danger said, waving a negligent hand. "In and out, just take him and vanish. If we're going to liberate a criminal, we're going to need to hide out anyway, so we might as well hide two people as one."

"True enough," Aletha said. "Have to give some thought to where to hide them, and how. Everyone'll be looking for Remus, and Harry, as soon as it gets out that they're gone."

Danger looked over to where Harry and Hermione were playing together, holding a black box and admiring something shiny. They put it back into the drawer they were exploring, and Danger decided to keep quiet about her speculations about the object. Then something about the way the two stood together hit her.

"Wait a second," she said. "Look at us." She indicated Harry and Neenie and herself. "We look alike, right? Or we would if Harry had brown hair instead of black?"

Aletha looked between Danger and the children and nodded. "He could almost pass for Neenie's brother. Non-identical twins, whatever they're called."

"Fraternal," Danger said, getting excited. "My children. Fraternal twins."

"Who's your husband going to be?" Aletha asked, glancing at Sirius apprehensively.

"Remus, of course," Danger retorted, forgetting how odd it would sound to proclaim herself married to a man she hadn't met. "I don't want _that_." She pointed at Sirius.

"Thanks a lot," Sirius muttered. "Does loads for my self-esteem."

"Your self-esteem doesn't need any help, trust me," Aletha said, chuckling. "It might work, Danger. All you'd need is a house somewhere, or an apartment. Might be tough to find one that's child friendly, though. Rents can be pretty steep."

"Money's not a problem," Sirius said dismissively. "I inherited a good amount of money from one of my uncles, and being the heir to the House of Black means that I have access to the family vaults, in spite of being the black sheep of the family."

"We'll figure something out," Danger replied, glancing at the clock. "But right now it's time for the children to eat."

Sirius looked at the clock, startled. "And I'm late! I promised her I wouldn't be late." He jumped up and started looking for his cloak.

"Her?" Aletha's voice contained jealousy once again. "Who are you talking about?"

Sirius noticed her jealousy, but apparently felt like tweaking her nose. "A beautiful brunette," he said, snatching up his cloak, "with gorgeous eyes. They're so blue, you feel like you can swim in them."

Danger thought that Aletha would scream at Sirius, but was surprised to see her relax and smile. "Abby. You spend time with Abby?"

Sirius nodded. "She needs people in her life, after everything…" He trailed off. "But I'm late, and I promised I wouldn't be, so I have to run." Sirius grabbed his wand and disapparated on the spot, leaving Aletha and Danger alone in his flat.


	3. Chatper 3

AN: I want to thank Lena, Anne, and now Tim for betaing for me. I love my pack. :)

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Sirius apparated into a shed in the back yard of a nice looking two story house. The shed was empty, hiding an apparation point that wouldn't attract the notice of Muggles, and wouldn't invade the privacy of the house. Sirius straightened his clothes, walked quickly to the back door of the house, and knocked.

"I'm so sorry I'm late," Sirius said immediately as a medium-sized man opened the door.

"Relax Sirius, she's eighteen months old, she doesn't understand time, so she doesn't know you're late," He shook his head and led Sirius into the house.

A little girl was sitting and coloring when Sirius entered the room, but she got up and ran to him immediately.

"Pa-foot!" she squealed, and he picked her up at once.

"Hey there, Joy, I've missed you!" Abigail meant 'Father's Joy,' which had been so true as Peter had taken great joy in his daughter. "Joy" was Sirius' nickname for her. "Want to go to the park?" Sirius asked her, and when she nodded, he started to help her into a warm coat.

"Have fun, you two," the man said fondly as they exited.

Sirius carried Abby down to the park that they played at. Satisfied that it was empty and no one was watching, he spoke a quick set of spells to make the park and its inhabitants unnoticeable so that they wouldn't be disturbed while they played. He pushed Abby on the swings, spun her magically on the merry-go-round, played a fun game of tag-the-Padfoot, and even played fetch before Abby started to get too tired to play. Sirius cancelled the charms and carried her back to the now-empty house.

He got her out of her coat, and set her down to go get her food. Handing her a plate, he took a breath and launched into what he really came for that day, "Want to here a story, Joy?" When the little girl paused from eating to look at him with a nod, Sirius settled down to tell the story. He pushed her wispy brown hair out of her face to look at her deep blue eyes.

She mostly looked like her father, with some hints of her mother. Her hair was thin like Peter's, and brown like her mother's. Her face was round, more like Peter, but she had her mother's determined chin. But she had one thing that neither of her parents had. Stunning eyes. Peter's eyes had been a light watery blue, and her mothers had been a light crystal blue. Joy's eyes were a deep vivid blue that always made Sirius think of the ocean or Hogwarts' Great Lake. Her eyes were entrancing, and Sirius had to catch himself from just sitting there and staring into her eyes.

"This is a story about your Papa," he started.

Abby looked around the room as if expecting him to be there.

"Sorry, Joy, your Papa's not here, this story is just about him, and me, and your uncles. When I was little, I started going to school at Hogwarts, where all the boys and girls who are going to grow up to be witches and wizards go. Almost everyone else in my family was really mean, and they became Slytherins, where the nasty wizards usually end up. But I didn't want to be like them, and I ended up in Gryffindor. That's where I met your Papa, and Uncle Moony and Prongs. We became friends, all of us, and were inseparable. Except once a month, your Uncle Moony would get sick, and we started to get curious. James and I figured it out. Moony was a werewolf. We wanted to help him, so your Papa and James and I decided to try and become Animagi. Your Papa wasn't as good at transfiguration as us, though, and James and I got ahead of him. We brewed the potion way before Peter was ready for it, and drank it ourselves. Peter became discouraged and stopped trying to be an Animagus. When the three of us confronted Moony, he was angry and me and James for being so stupid to try and become Animagi on our own so young. He told Peter that he respected his decision to not do something dangerous. To our surprise, Peter and Moony actually grew closer because Peter _wasn't _there to romp with us on fool moon nights. Each full moon James and I would transform, and Peter would walk us down to the Whomping Willow and touch the knot on the tree to freeze it with a stick. When the three of us were in the hospital wing for the next day or two, Peter started to go and study in the library. That's where he met Evanie, your mommy. They became friends, even though she was in the year below us. As we got older, Moony and Peter kept growing closer, and when Peter started to date Evanie, he had Evanie introduce him to a Ravenclaw friend of hers, Melanie."

Sirius sighed, just thinking about all this was hard, but he kept going, "I never liked her much, but Moony really enjoyed talking to her about things like literature and music, and the intellectual things that he couldn't get from us Marauders. I guess I didn't like her because I thought that she was stealing Moony from us. But it was weird, because I was able to be friends with Lily and friends with Evanie, but I couldn't seem to be friends with Melanie. The summer after my seventh year, Lily and James got married, and that's where I found out that your Auntie Letha was actually interested in me, and we started dating. Moony and Melanie became engaged, but were waiting to get married until after everything settled down."

Sirius wasn't sure why he was telling her all this, it wasn't like she'd understand, but he just wanted her to hear it all, "You see, there was a bad wizard around, named Voldemort. He thought that people whose mommies or daddies weren't wizards or witches weren't good enough, and he would kill them. There were a lot of bad wizards who followed him, and then there were wizards like me and James and your Papa who opposed him. Your daddy was scared that something could happen to him because of the war, so as soon as your Mommy turned seventeen, they eloped. Your Auntie Letha covered for her at school, since she wasn't supposed to be away, and your uncle Moony and Aunt Lily were the witnesses."

"After your mommy left school, she started to study to be a midwife like your Aunt Lily. A couple months after Lily found out she was going to have a baby, your mommy found out she was going to have you. We were all so happy and excited about the babies. Another family was going to have a baby around the same time as Lily, the Longbottoms. Your mommy became friends with Alice Longbottom because they were both going to have babies, and your Papa became friends with Frank because their wives were friends. When Lily had her baby it was a boy, and she named him Harry Potter, and James and Lily named me his Godfather. And then two months later you were born, and Moony was named your Godfather. We all had a happy year together, in spite of the badness in the world around us."

This was where the story got harder, "A woman spoke a prophecy, that a child would be born to parents who defied the Dark Lord three times, and that this child would have the power to defeat him. We figured out that there were two candidates: Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter. Dumbledore urged both families to go into hiding, so they both chose secret keepers. The Potters told us that they chose Moony, but really used Melanie. The Longbottoms chose your Papa.

"Voldemort sent out his Death Eaters to find out where both families were. The Potter's were betrayed, but your Papa was brave and stood up to them. You were safely hidden in a safe room of your house, but your Mama and Papa weren't. The Death Eaters caught them both, and while your Papa was in a full body bind, they tortured your Mama with the Cruciatus Curse while making him watch. He loved your Mama, but they both understood that they needed to protect little Neville, so they stayed brave and didn't say anything. Your mama was tortured until her mind snapped, and then they turned to your Papa and did the same. He never told them where the Longbottoms were hidden, but when his mind snapped the spell hiding them went away, and they were able to scry for the Longbottoms to find them.

"On Halloween night, Voldemort decided to go to the Potter's house himself and send some of his Deatheaters to the Longbottoms to kill Neville. Voldemort killed James and Lily, but for some reason, when he went to kill Harry, the curse rebounded on him."

"Meanwhile, the Death Eaters arrived at the Longbottom house, set off the Dark Mark above the house before the entered, and decided to torture Frank and Alice before murdering them, and going to murder Neville. They had just managed to drive both Longbottoms into insanity when Voldemort was killed. It caused a violent reaction in Death Eaters, as a surge of energy appeared to be taken from them through their marks. They were knocked unconscious immediately. Many Death Eaters were caught because they were in public when it happened, and their Dark Mark was clearly visible. After that night though, the Dark Marks disappeared, so it was harder to prove who was a Death Eater and who was working under Imperius.

"After those events, Harry was sent to live with his Aunt and Uncle," Sirius sneered at the thought, but pushed it aside, "Neville was sent to live with his grandparents, and you were sent to live with your grandparents. But your Grandmum couldn't hold on after her son was tortured so. She just started to fade away. So now it's just you and your Poppy.

"Moony was sent to jail because everyone thinks that he betrayed James and Lily. Well, he didn't, and don't ever believe that he did," Sirius looked down at the little girl, surprised to see her still wide-eyed and listening intently. He realized that he'd been speaking mostly for catharsis, not so that she would actually know the story, since she probably couldn't even understand it all.

"Come on Joy, it's time for bed," Sirius said, scooping her up and taking her up the stairs to her room. He got her into her pajamas and had her tucked in. He sang softly to her until she fell asleep.

Sirius headed downstairs and sat in a plush couch, thinking to himself. Two years ago he never would have imagined himself playing with a young child, telling her stories, and putting her to bed. Then again, there were lots of things that he hadn't imagined that happened in the past two years. As he was musing Sirius didn't even notice as his eyes started to close and his head fell to his chest as he fell into a doze.

"Sirius!" a voice barked, and he jumped as though he were electrocuted.

Mr. Pettigrew was looking at him, amused.

Sirius rolled his eyes, wondering for the thousandth time how such an unimposing looking man could have such a huge presence. Not to mention a loud voice.

Peter had taken more strongly after his mother, but the closer he got to the other Marauders, the more like his father he'd become. No one could deny that what he did at the end was an act of bravery that even his father could be proud of.

"How're you doing?" Mr. Pettigrew asked, switching gears from ferocious bear to Papa bear to teddy bear at lightning speed as he sat down next to Sirius.

"I'm doing all right," Sirius said honestly. The past week everything had been looking up. He'd seen the three people most important to him that day, Letha, Harry, and Joy. In spite of the argument with Aletha, it had been a good day. Thinking of Harry and Aletha brought back the thoughts of their plans, though.

"I don't know if I'm going to be able to stop by like this anymore," Sirius said hesitantly, wishing that he'd said goodbye to Joy while she was still awake.

Mr. Pettigrew looked even more concerned and put his hand on Sirius knee as if to hold him down, "I know this is tough, Sirius, but suicide is not the answer."

Sirius tucked that information into the back of his head before shaking his head and laughing, "It's not that," He thought up a lie on the spot, something he'd perfected during his pranking days, "I started working again this week, and everything is so crazy right now, I don't know if I'll have the time to come by until things get settled."

Mr. Pettigrew relaxed some and leaned back in his seat, "Don't let your work consume you either, son."

Sirius felt warmth wash over him when he heard the word son. His own parents had rejected him; his second set of parents, the Potters, had died while they were in school, as had Remus' parents. The fact that Mr. Pettigrew, a man that he hadn't grown close to until after he lost his own son, cared meant a lot to him.

"I'll try," Sirius conceded, suddenly upset that he might not be able to see him again, for a while at least. Sirius stifled a yawn while trying to think of an appropriate change of subject.

"Maybe you better head home," Mr. Pettigrew said, and Sirius willingly conceded.

"Before I go though, I wanted to ask you, can you make sure that Abby goes to see Neville Longbottom? They both have a lot in common, and they should know each other."

Mr. Pettigrew nodded, "Of course, you're right. I'll arrange a play date." Mr. Pettigrew made a face, "You know, even when Peter was a child I didn't do those things. Taking care of Abby has been a life-changing experience."

Sirius nodded, "I only wish I could have had a similar life-changing experience. I really better go, I'm exhausted."

Mr. Pettigrew pulled him into a hug, "Remember Sirius, suicide is not the answer."

Sirius pushed down the laughter at the statement and nodded, "I'll try to be by when I can."

Sirius broke away from the hug and disapparated directly to his flat, appearing with a quiet pop right inside the front door of his dark and silent flat. Exhausted, Sirius started to strip as he walked towards his room, leaving a trail of shoes, socks, and sweater leading up to his bedroom door. He had just taken off his undershirt when he realized that his bed was not empty.

Aletha was lying in the bed, looking gorgeous, but was sound asleep.

Sirius stopped in his tracks, his breath hitching as he saw the perfection lying in his bed. He was instantly more awake, and changed his plan of collapsing into bed in his underwear out of exhaustion. He quietly padded to his dresser and took out a pair of pajamas to change into. He quietly got into bed and waited for a moment, lying as still as he could to make sure he hadn't awoken Aletha. He knew he probably should have gone to sleep on his couch, but Remus was the chivalrous one, not him.

Aletha stirred a little bit and rolled over closer to Sirius, and he involuntarily put his arms around her, just to draw her close. Aletha woke partway, and willingly drew closer to Sirius, snuggling up against her and sighing in contentment. When she didn't yell at him, Sirius relaxed too. But as Sirius relaxed, Aletha seemed to wake up more.

"Sirius?" she murmured questioningly.

"Yeah," he said with a sigh, preparing himself to have to go sleep on the couch.

"Will you marry me?"

It wasn't at all what Sirius was expecting. "What?" He asked incredulously.

Aletha pushed herself up in the bed so that she was looking down at him. "Will you marry me?"

Sirius sat straight up, "No!"

"No?!" Aletha cried, backing away from him.

Sirius growled in frustration, "Not no, no! Ugh!" Sirius got up and walked out of the bedroom, going to a certain drawer in his living room, and grabbing a small box.

He walked back into the bedroom to find a hurt, confused, and shell-shocked Aletha sitting still in the bed. Sirius knew he had to act fast before Aletha started to curse him out of frustration.

Sirius walked towards her, and dropped to one knee in front of her, "I said no," He tried to say calmly, "Because I had so many romantic proposals planned out. I was going to propose in December; James and Peter and Remus and I were planning different situations. And then everything happened, and I pushed it away. But I never wanted you to be the one to propose, so when you said that, I said no without thinking. So I am going to ask you the same question you asked me, I just hope and pray that you don't give the same answer." Sirius pulled the box with the ring that he had painstakingly picked out from behind his back, "Aletha Freeman, will you marry me?"

"I should say no, after you did that to me, but I love you too much to refuse."

Sirius grinned, putting the ring onto her finger.

Aletha's reaction was not verbal, and they had a long, but happy night. If anyone had walked into the bedroom the next morning, they would have thought the picture of them sleeping, with Sirius' arms protectively and lovingly around her, was the epitome of a loving relationship.

Aletha was the first to wake up, and after glancing at the clock tried to hurriedly wake Sirius up. "Don't you have to be at work today?" she asked him as he refused to wake up.

"No," he muttered sleepily, "Day off."

Aletha rose slightly, propping herself up on one elbow, "I have the day off too. That makes this a perfect day for a wedding, yes?"

Sirius' eyes popped open, "Already? Don't you want a big wedding? I thought every girl wanted a big wedding?" It wasn't that Sirius didn't want to get married to her, he wouldn't have proposed otherwise, but it just seemed so sudden, he wasn't expecting it.

"We have other things to worry about than planning a huge expensive wedding. We should get married before everything else."

The plan was unspoken, but they both understood what she was saying.

Sirius sighed. "I wanted the wedding to be perfect for you, but if this is what you want, then let's do it."

"Then I'll swing by Danger's house to pick her up, and then I'll just pop over to my house to get ready. I'll meet you back here."

"Get Danger, get ready?" Sirius wasn't quite sure he understood her.

"We're getting married fast, and it's going to be small, but we still need a witness, and I want her there. And I still want to wear white to my wedding. So I have to go get ready. I'll be back later." Leaving the startled Sirius, she walked into the front room, where he heard her disappear with a pop.

Sirius shook his head and started to rummage through his closet, looking for his dress robes.

-----------------------

Aletha apparated into Danger's house, due to her lack of normal attire. She was wearing her wizard robes over a T-shirt of Sirius's that was much too big for her. If she'd apparated onto the front stoop, she wasn't sure if she'd be arrested for indecency or locked up for lunacy.

Luckily, due to life with a toddler, Danger was already up and dressed. She was startled by the sudden appearance of her friend, but didn't seem to mind. "So why are you here so early this morning?"

"Because," Letha said with a cheesy grin, and began to sing, "I'm goin' to the chapel and I'm gonna get married."

Neenie was extremely amused by the sounds and squeals that emitted from the two women, and after a moment's hesitation, she decided to throw her cereal at them and make noise too.

This calmed them down and caused Letha to laugh as Danger went to get a broom to clean up the mess.

"So," Letha said as she was sweeping, "I thought that you'd be my bridesmaid. Neenie could even be the flower girl."

"I'm honored Letha," Danger said, her eyes tearing up a bit, "After not seeing each other for years, and you still want me to be your bridesmaid!"

Letha nodded, "I wish that I could have other bridesmaids, but the other women that I would want have died or are insane."

Danger nodded, and tried to change the subject to something happier on such an important day, "What are the plans then?"

"Well, we're going to go to my house, to get me into something at least resembling a wedding dress, and you in some pretty dress robes, and then we're going to pick up Sirius, and have me a wedding. We should probably drive to my place though, since I live in a Muggle neighborhood."

"Alright," Danger looked Letha up and down, "Go upstairs and grab some of my clothes while I get Neenie into her car seat." Letha nodded, and soon they were on the way.

"This is your house?" Danger asked in awe as they were climbing out of their car.

Letha laughed, "Sort of, the half on the right is mine, the other half belongs to my landlady. It's a great neighborhood. A lot of widows and widowers live here. They're quite amusing, they all date each other, but they aren't really looking for love, they're just lonely."

"Is it all older people?" Danger asked when she was done laughing at the mental image.

"No, there's started to be some younger people like me. Some places with a single working person like me, one house that has four girls who just graduated from University, and another house has a brother and sister who both claim they're there to just help out the other with the rent."

"No families with children?" Danger asked.

"Are you interested in a house, dearie?" A woman had left the house attached to Letha's during their discussion.

Letha started to shake her head, but Danger touched her lightly on the arm, "Possibly, my husband and I are looking for a house that's toddler-friendly for our children."

"Two?" the landlady asked, craning her head to look for another child.

"He's with my husband for the day," Danger said cautiously.

"Well, I'm actually thinking of going to live with my daughter, and I could lease the half that I live on," she said.

"How would you feel about selling it?" Letha asked suddenly.

"What?" The landlady was flabbergasted.

"I think it'd be a good investment, and then my friend could lease it from me. And then you wouldn't have to worry about the house anymore, you could just relax with your daughter and grandkids."

"That's not a bad idea; can we talk about it later?" The landlady asked.

"Of course," Letha said as they went into the house. As soon as the door closed Letha turned towards Danger, "So, why am I buying a house?"

Danger grinned, "Because we're going to hide in plain site. You and Sirius living here, going about your regular jobs in the wizarding world, and then a normal Muggle couple lives next to you, with their magical twins."

"Generally, I like it," Aletha said with a laugh.

------------------------------------

Danger watched from the side and slightly behind as a radiant Aletha looked up at Sirius. She was gorgeous in a white dress that she'd had, and a veil that they'd stopped and purchased. Her hair was braided with pearlescent beads at the ends, and the glow about her transformed her from pretty to glamorous.

"Aletha Freeman, I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life," Sirius spoke solemnly, but the look that he gave Letha was filled with tenderness, love, and passion.

"Sirius Black, I take you to be my lawfully wedded husband. Before these witnesses I vow to love you and care for you as long as we both shall live. I take you, with all your faults and strengths, as I offer myself to you with all my faults and strengths. I will help you when you need help, and turn to you when I need help. I choose you as the person with whom I will spend my life," Aletha responded, oblivious to anything but Sirius.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," The wizard proclaimed, "You may now kiss the bride."

Sirius and Aletha became even more oblivious to their surroundings.


End file.
